The diphtheria vaccine, first used in the United States in the early s, has virtually eliminated the disease. Now we see fewer than two cases a year. Tetanus is another disease caused by a toxin-releasing bacterium, Clostridium tetani. Unlike most vaccine-preventable diseases, tetanus is not a disease that you catch from someone else.
The bacteria live in the soil and usually enter the body following punctures or wounds that are not kept clean or include damaged tissues such as from burns, frostbite, or gangrene. Items likely to be contaminated with the tetanus bacteria include nails or pieces of glass that were lying on the ground.
Given the playful, adventurous, and oftentimes injury-prone nature of children, it's important to immunize them against tetanus. Hand washing and bathing do little once the bacteria actually get under the skin. Once under the skin, the bacteria make a toxin that causes muscle spasms. If these spasms affect the throat and jaw lockjaw , they can interfere with breathing, causing suffocation.
The tetanus toxin can also damage the heart. Because of its presence in the environment and the noninfectious nature of this disease, eradication will not be possible through vaccination. Further, people cannot be protected from this disease because everyone around them has had a vaccine; that is, there is no protection from herd immunity. In developed countries, tetanus is typically thought of as infecting wounds in adults who have injured themselves; however, in the developing world many infants suffer from neonatal tetanus.
Infections in newborns result from poor sanitation either during or after delivery. Efforts to eliminate infant deaths from tetanus are making progress , but work remains to be done.
Pertussis also known as whooping cough is one of the most contagious diseases around. Caused by a bacterium Bordetella pertussis , whooping cough makes children cough uncontrollably.
The cough is often so hard and so persistent that children can't catch their breath and make a "whooping" sound when they attempt to breathe in against a windpipe severely narrowed by mucus. The cough can be so violent that people with pertussis can crack ribs, break blood vessels, or develop hernias. Pneumonia or seizures can also develop.
Young infants can also experience bouts of apnea in which they briefly stop breathing. Pertussis is unusual in that most children catch the disease from adults and not from other children. Because pertussis is often misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed, people do not always realize how common it is. For example, over the last several years, an average of about 17, cases of pertussis have been reported annually to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but these likely represent only the tip of the iceberg of what is occurring in the community.
Read a personal story about pertussis». This is pertussis. Experts are aware that the actual number of pertussis infections each year is much greater than the number diagnosed. Although a pertussis infection can interfere with day-to-day life, adults tend to recover. Unfortunately, infants and young children with narrow windpipes are not always as lucky. Coughing episodes caused by pertussis often cause babies to turn blue as they struggle to breathe.
Sadly, some of them do not survive. Because the most negatively impacted age group is infants, who are too young to get a vaccine, public health officials have recommended two ways to protect them in the interim:. The DTaP and Tdap vaccines both protect against three bacterial infections: diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, whereas the Td vaccine only protects against diphtheria and tetanus.
In addition, the vaccines vary in terms of who should receive them and the quantities of vaccine proteins they contain:. The bacteria that causes diphtheria makes a harmful protein, called a toxin. People who develop an immune response to this toxin are protected against the disease. The diphtheria vaccine is made by taking the diphtheria toxin and inactivating it with a chemical. The inactivated toxin is called a "toxoid. The diphtheria vaccine can cause mild side effects such as pain or soreness in the local area of the shot and occasionally a low-grade fever.
The bacteria that causes tetanus makes a harmful protein, called a toxin. The name of the tetanus toxin is tetanospasmin. People who develop an immune response to this toxin are protected against tetanus. The tetanus vaccine is made by taking the tetanus toxin and inactivating it with a chemical.
Like the diphtheria vaccine, the tetanus vaccine can cause mild side effects such as pain or soreness in the local area of the shot and occasionally a low-grade fever. The tetanus vaccine is also a rare cause of a severe allergic reaction. It is estimated that this allergic reaction could occur in about one of every 1 million children who receive the tetanus vaccine, and could include hives, difficulty breathing or a lower blood pressure.
The allergic reaction can be treated with medications. The bacteria that cause pertussis make several harmful proteins, called toxins.
People who develop an immune response to some of these toxins are protected against disease. The pertussis vaccine is made by taking two to five of these toxins and inactivating them with a chemical.
The inactivated toxins are called "toxoids. The latest version of the pertussis vaccine was released in the fall of This vaccine is called the "acellular" pertussis vaccine or aP and is purer than the old "whole cell" pertussis vaccine. The "old" pertussis vaccine still contained a killed form of the whole pertussis bacteria.
Because individual bacteria are sometimes called cells, the "old" pertussis vaccine was called the "whole-cell" vaccine. On the other hand, the new pertussis vaccine takes advantage of advances in protein chemistry and protein purification. Because the whole killed pertussis bacteria are no longer present, the "new" pertussis vaccine is called the "acellular" vaccine.
The "old" pertussis vaccine, called the "whole cell" vaccine, had a high rate of mild and severe side effects. Mild side effects such as pain and tenderness where the shot was given, fever, fretfulness and drowsiness occurred in as many as one-third to one-half of children who received the vaccine.
Severe side effects, such as persistent, inconsolable crying occurred in one of every doses, fever greater than degrees occurred in one of every doses, and seizures with fever occurred in one of every 1, doses. The new "acellular" pertussis vaccine, the one that has been in use in the United States since , has much lower rates of both mild and severe side effects. Mild side effects such as pain and tenderness at the injection site occur in about one-third of children, most often after the fourth or fifth dose.
More severe reactions occur in about one of every 10, children. Severe reactions can include fever of degrees or higher, fever-associated seizures, inconsolable crying, or hypotonic-hyporesponsive syndrome, a condition in which a child can become listless and lethargic with poor muscle tone for several hours. Unfortunately, recent data suggests that the tradeoff for increased safety was decreased vaccine effectiveness.
However, it is unlikely that we would return to using the older version; instead, additional booster doses may be recommended until a newer version of the vaccine that is both safe and more effective can be developed.
Because pertussis, in particular, circulates in many parts of the country each year and young infants are most susceptible to complications from the disease, the relative benefits of the vaccine may still outweigh the risks.
Previous experience has shown that in most cases, infants who experience inconsolable crying after the first dose of DTaP do not experience the same reaction after subsequent doses. Pertussis is common in teenagers and adults. Therefore, a vaccine to prevent pertussis in teenagers and adults is of great benefit.
A newer "acellular" pertussis-containing vaccine is available for older children and adults part of the Tdap vaccine. Because adolescents and adults can transmit this disease to infants who are too young to have received their series of the DTaP vaccine, it is imperative that adults around the baby are immune. Parents, grandparents and childcare providers should all have received a dose of Tdap vaccine.
Also see vaccine considerations for new and expectant moms. Pertussis can be a dangerous disease for a new baby. Because of their small airways and the amount of mucus caused by infection with pertussis, babies have trouble breathing, often turning blue during their coughing spells. Every year in the U. There are several things that you can do to help protect your baby from pertussis.
Babies get a vaccine to protect them from pertussis when they are 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months of age. In some children, the recovery period can last for months. Call the doctor if you suspect that your child has whooping cough. To make a diagnosis, the doctor will take a medical history, do a thorough physical exam, and may take nose and throat mucus samples to be checked in a lab.
Blood tests and a chest X-ray also might be done. Whooping cough is treated with antibiotics. Many experts believe that antibiotics are most effective in shortening the length of the infection when they're given in the first stage of the illness, before coughing spells begin.
But even if antibiotics are started later, they're still important because they can stop the spread of the pertussis infection to others. Ask your doctor whether preventive antibiotics or vaccine boosters for other family members are needed.
Some kids with whooping cough need to be treated in a hospital. Babies and younger children are more likely to be hospitalized because they're at greater risk for problems like pneumonia. Whooping cough can be life-threatening for infants younger than 6 months, so they almost always need hospital treatment. Other potential complications include difficulty breathing, periods of apnea, needing oxygen particularly during a coughing spell , and dehydration. While in the hospital, a child may need suctioning to clear the airways.
Breathing will be watched closely, and oxygen given if needed. Intravenous IV fluids might be needed if a child shows signs of dehydration or has difficulty eating. Precautions will be taken to prevent the infection from spreading to other patients, hospital staff, and visitors. If your child is being treated for pertussis at home, follow the schedule for giving antibiotics exactly as your doctor prescribed.
Whooping cough spreads easily by coughing and sneezing and mainly affects the respiratory system the organs that help you breathe, such as your lungs. Whooping cough is very serious, especially for babies and young kids. Whooping cough can cause pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and death. Babies younger than one year of age who get whooping cough may be hospitalized or even die. The symptoms of whooping cough are different depending on your age.
Babies and young kids can have severe coughing spells that make it hard to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. They may not cough at all but have life-threatening pauses in their breathing.
Older kids and adults may only have a runny nose and low fever, followed by a persistent cough that can last for several weeks or months and is often worse at night. The name "whooping cough" comes from the sound many babies and kids make when trying to get air after a coughing spell. It is important to know that not everyone with whooping cough makes the "whoop" sound.
The best way to know if you have whooping cough is to see your doctor, nurse, or clinician. Symptoms usually start 5 to 21 days after exposure to whooping cough. The average is 7 to 10 days after exposure. Whooping cough is generally treated with antibiotics. Early treatment can also make the symptoms end sooner and be less severe. Getting vaccinated is the best way to lower the risk of getting whooping cough.
You can have whooping cough without realizing it and infect others. This is especially important to know for people who are going to be around babies or pregnant women. Any time you have a runny nose or cough, you should stay away from high-risk people, and make sure you are vaccinated before seeing them. Whooping cough is always active in our state.
In a typical year, Washington has anywhere between and cases of whooping cough, but in we had an epidemic with nearly cases. In the past 20 years, whooping cough has caused as many as two deaths in some years with no deaths in other years. Most outbreaks in Washington are local, with a variation in cases from county to county.
Some areas report a high number of cases and others have none. Find the current number of whooping cough cases in Washington PDF , or the number of whooping cough cases reported in past years.
Our statewide case count of 4, during the epidemic of was well above what we expect to see in an average year—the highest level since , when 4, cases were reported.
The pace of new whooping cough cases slowed after the epidemic, but some communities are beginning to see higher numbers again. Getting vaccinated and staying away from others when you are sick are the best ways to slow the spread of whooping cough and protect people at highest risk, like babies and pregnant women.
Only about one out of every 10 cases gets reported to public health because:. Talk to your doctor, nurse, or clinic as soon as you learn that you have been exposed. You may be given antibiotics to treat your infection and make the infection less serious, especially if you start it early. Try to stay away from other people until you have completed the first 5 days of treatment or until another diagnosis for the cough is given and you know that you are not contagious.
If you think you or one of your family members has whooping cough, call your doctor, nurse, or clinic and ask to be evaluated for whooping cough. Employers should talk with their Human Resources office to understand their company policies, procedures, and labor agreements, and work with their local health agency if they have questions about when a person with whooping cough can safely return to work. Employers should not share individual employee health information with others.
They get it from close face-to-face contact with people who have whooping cough. Back to Top. People of all ages should get a whooping cough vaccine. Which vaccine you need depends on your age. Vaccination is the best protection against whooping cough, and helps to reduce the risk to yourself, vulnerable infants, and pregnant women.
Tdap; one dose as early as possible during the third trimester between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation of each pregnancy. The first dose of DTaP vaccine is recommended at two months. Talk to your health care provider if you think your baby may be at increased risk of getting whooping cough. Not getting recommended vaccines on time puts children and teens at higher risk for getting and spreading whooping cough. All adults should get one dose of the Tdap vaccine. Pregnant women need Tdap with each pregnancy.
The number of cases was particularly high in , in line with the typical 3- to 4-yearly peak in disease rates. Babies can be infected by people with whooping cough in these older age groups, so it is still important for pregnant women to be vaccinated to protect their babies. Yes, they are, but the babies that have been getting whooping cough are generally too young to have started their normal vaccinations, so they are not protected against the disease.
The only way you can help protect your baby from getting whooping cough in their first few weeks after birth is by having the whooping cough vaccination yourself while you are pregnant. After vaccination, your body produces antibodies to protect against whooping cough. You will then pass some immunity to your unborn baby. The whooping cough vaccine is not a "live" vaccine.
This means it does not contain whooping cough or polio, diphtheria or tetanus , and cannot cause whooping cough in you, or in your baby. Whenever you have the whooping cough vaccine, your baby will still need to be vaccinated according to the normal NHS vaccination schedule when they reach 8 weeks old. Babies are protected against whooping cough by the 6-in-1 vaccine. Yes, you can have the whooping cough vaccine when you get the flu vaccine, but do not delay your flu jab so that you can have both at the same time.
The vaccine is available from your GP, though some antenatal clinics also offer it. You may be offered the vaccination at a routine antenatal appointment from around 16 weeks of your pregnancy. If you are more than 16 weeks pregnant and have not been offered the vaccine, talk to your midwife or GP and make an appointment to get vaccinated. Yes, because any protection you may have had through either having whooping cough or being vaccinated when you were young is likely to have worn off and will not provide sufficient protection for your baby.
Yes, you should get re-vaccinated from 16 weeks in each pregnancy to maximise protection for your baby. Be alert to the signs and symptoms of whooping cough, which include severe coughing fits that may be accompanied by difficulty breathing or pauses in breathing in young infants or vomiting after coughing, and the characteristic "whoop" sound. Page last reviewed: 17 October Next review due: 17 October Home Pregnancy Keeping well in pregnancy Back to Keeping well in pregnancy.
Whooping cough vaccination in pregnancy. Why are pregnant women advised to have the vaccine?
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